Christmas With the Bohemians
by madamasharpless24601
Summary: Christmas with the La Bohème characters! Positive and/or constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated, but no flames, please! Disclaimer: I don't own La Bohème or its characters. Also, this is a self-insert story. I'm the narrator, but please note that I changed my name in the story for privacy reasons. Anyway, that's about it! I hope you enjoy! –madamasharpless24601
1. Just for reference

Rodolfo: Roh-DOHL-foh

Mimì: Mee-MEE

Marcello: Mar-CHEL-loh

Musetta: Moo-ZET-ta

Colline: Koh-LEE-neh

Schaunard: Shoh-NAR

Benoit: Ben–WAH

Alcindoro: All-cheen-DOHR-o

Parpignol: Par-PEEN-yol

If any of these are wrong, please tell me in the comments!

–madamasharpless24601 3


	2. Chapter 1–Party Hosts

"I'm so excited! I haven't hosted a Christmas party since I was nine!" I gush to my best friend, Colline, for what has to be the millionth time.

"Yes, I know, because you've told me. So. Many. Times. But I am as well," Colline smiles as he goes to check on the roast in the oven.

We're in Colline's kitchen cooking for the Christmas party, which will start in just over an hour. We're hosting the party together, and I can't wait to see everyone! Our friends are all coming—Mimì and Rodolfo, Musetta and Marcello, and Schaunard. We had told each of them to bring some sort of dish or dessert, but the rest of the cooking is up to us. The trouble is, though, neither Colline nor I can actually cook.

But Mimì can. Ah, Mimì. She's such a sweet, gentle girl, an amazing seamstress, and _so_ in love with her boyfriend/starving author, Rodolfo. Rodolfo's a hopeless romantic and aspiring poet/author; he and I often do collaborative writing together. He's best friends with Marcello, who has a warm and gentle soul, despite his stubbornness and rough exterior. Marcello's an amazing painter, something I'm so jealous of. I can't draw (or paint) to save my life. His girlfriend is Musetta, who can be a bit of a drama queen at times, but is still a nice person to be around, and very kind. Like me, she is a singer. And finally, our last guest is happy-go-lucky jokester Schaunard, who is Colline's second best friend behind me, and mine behind Colline. Sometimes the three of us hang out together when the two couples are off on double dates. Schaunard is a musician; sometimes he and I duet and play and sing for our friends. Colline likes to sing, too (we all do!), but being a philosopher, he prefers to read.

That's how we met, actually—reading and writing club. Rodolfo, the first of our friends that I met, had recruited me the week the club was writing personal narratives. Having been shy about my writing, I would only let Rodolfo proofread my work. On the third day, though, the teacher told me I had to pick someone else. I had been so nervous, but I eventually asked Colline to do it as he seemed fairly non-intimidating. He did, and when he was done he said that I was a really good, insightful writer, and we became best friends from there. He's so sensible, loyal, and proud of all his friends. Thanks to him, I'm a lot more confident than I used to be.

I love all my friends dearly, but right now, all I can think of is Mimì. My stomach bubbles with anticipation at the thought of seeing her again. It's been way too long. Even though we all live in the same condo complex, being the busy starving artists that we are, we don't get to see each other as often as we would like.

"Oh, CRAP! Lucy!" Colline's panicked voice jerks me out of my thoughts.

"What'd you do now?" I tease.

"I burned the roast!"

I walk up to the oven and peer inside. "No, you didn't, silly; it's _supposed_ to look like that! It's ready!"

"Oh." Colline looks relieved. He takes the roast out of the oven and into the dining room, where he sets it on the table to cool. I follow him into the dining room.

After he puts the dish down, I ask, "Why _did_ you volunteer us to do the cooking, anyway? You know neither of us can cook! Look, I screwed up the potatoes three times, and you almost set the house on fire!"

"When did I—OH DEAR GOD, MY COAT!"

Colline darts back into the kitchen, where he'd left his coat after using it to swat at the flames that arose when he left the stove on after cooking the carrots. It hadn't worked very well; the flames only went out when I poured water on them and turned the stove off. The coat didn't catch fire, though, and that's a good thing, since Colline is practically in love with his coat. It's this long dark blue (or black; I can never tell) overcoat that he's had forever. It's got this weird cut, with a short waist, a long skirt, and huge pockets in which he keeps all his books and foreign language dictionaries. He never lets anyone else wear it (especially not Schaunard), and sometimes he even sings to it! Our friends like to joke about it, saying that if he loves it so much he should just go and marry it now, and I guess I agree with them. But he and that coat have been through a lot together. It's pretty adorably nutty how crazy he is about it, though.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me? Oh, my _zimarra_ , thank God you're okay," Colline mutters to his coat, burying his face into it. He sinks into a chair. I try—and fail—to hold back a giggle.

"Are you...crying?" I ask, unable to keep my laughter at bay.

Colline looks up from his coat at me, and he legit looks terrified. I actually feel bad for laughing at him. I mean, he looks _terrified_.

"I never meant to use it to put out the fire," he says. "I just...panicked, and it was just on the little table over there...it was the closest thing at my disposal..."

"Colline, it's okay." I try to reassure him. "The house didn't catch fire, we're fine, your coat is fine; I'm sure it, uh, forgives you." He still doesn't look convinced. I hug him, rub his arm. "It's okay," I say again. "But maybe next time, don't use a flammable object to put out a fire."


	3. Chapter 2–Potatoes and a Secret

Schaunard is the first of our guests to show up, arriving at 2:30 on the nose. I go out to greet him, and he grins hugely.

"Lucy! Hey!" Schaunard cries, pulling me into a way-too-tight hug with one arm.

"Hey, Schaunard! Merry Christmas!" I say when I can finally breathe again. "Ooh, what's this?" I inquire excitedly, gesturing to the big covered dish he's carrying.

"It's herring. The biggest feast of all time!" Schaunard exclaims extravagantly and hands the dish to me. "Where's Colline?" he asks.

"I'm here, man!" Colline comes outside and jogs up to Schaunard, and the two grasp hands and slap each other's backs.

I take the herring inside and put a package of frozen green beans in the microwave. Just as I start the microwave, I get a text from Colline.

 _Colline: Rodolfo and Mimì are here!_

 _Me: omg omg YAY! Be right out ️_

I sprint outside at full speed. Mimì and Rodolfo are in the driveway, Rodolfo talking to Schaunard, Mimì holding a big dish filled with something that, even from here, smells amazing.

"Mimì!" I squeal, running towards her.

"Lucy!" Mimì looks and sounds equally thrilled.

I reach her in no time, and we hug and jump up and down.

"What's in the dish?" I ask. "It smells like _heaven._ "

"It's a Yule log!" Mimì says. "I just baked it!"

"Well, she made one last night," Rodolfo chuckles, "but it was dark, and I, um, mistook it for firewood and threw it into the fireplace to burn my fail poems. I've had the biggest writer's block ever for weeks!"

"I just got over mine!" I say, like it is a disease.

"Anyway, we should go inside. It's cold out here," says Colline.

"Now all we have to do is wait for Marcello and Musetta," Mimì says.

So we all go inside and catch up with each other. Mimì helps me finish dinner. During the next twenty minutes, I learn that Rodolfo and Mimì are going on vacation in the spring, and Schaunard gets us all up-to-date on his encounters with his weird music students. He has this one guy that's particularly eccentric. I really want to meet him. Schaunard, on my behalf, had invited him to our little party, but he had turned down the invitation as today he was too busy trying to bake a Christmas cake that looked like a cross between a trumpet and a snowflake. I remember telling Schaunard to wish him good luck with that one.

"They're here!" Rodolfo exclaims excitedly as a blue truck pulls into the driveway.

Marcello and Musetta get out of the truck and walk arm in arm to the door.

"Sorry we're late! We just got back from babysitting my nephew!" Musetta says as she hands me a plate piled high with assorted Christmas cookies. Her cheeks are rose-red from the cold.

"Don't worry," Colline says, shaking his head. "It must have been a long drive for you two in the snow."

"A half hour," says Marcello. "And just when I was about to make a left turn, some _idiot_ cut me off! I was able to pass him, but then he rode on my tail for a solid ten minutes! And then _he_ passed _us_ , and somehow he had the nerve, the _audacity_ , to _wink_ at Musetta as he passed! Yes, wink! I was—"

"Whoa there, dude, calm down!" says Rodolfo, putting a hand on his best friend's arm. "You're always saying that out of all of us, you're the best listener. So why are _you_ ranting at _us_ , huh?" Rodolfo makes these ridiculous (yet admittedly adorable), over-exaggerated puppy eyes at Marcello.

"Oh, you _owe_ it to me after all these years, and you know it. You all—" Marcello is unable to stay mad any longer, and we all burst out laughing. It's pretty hilarious to hear Marcello rant.

"Okay, man, what's your problem?" Marcello asks Rodolfo, who just stares at him. "C'mon, tell ol' Marcello."

" _Nothing_ ," says Rodolfo. "I was just trying to shut you up, that's all."

Marcello punches Rodolfo's arm.

"Dinner's ready!" Mimì announces cheerfully as she sets the last dish on the table.

"Oh, boy, I'm starving!" Schaunard exclaims.

We all head into the dining room, where Colline and I had set up a table and seven chairs the night before. We all sit down, take plates, and start serving ourselves from the many dishes the table offers.

"Lucy, these carrots look delicious!" Mimì exclaims, helping herself to a decent portion.

"Thanks! Well, don't thank me, thank Colline. He's the one who cooked the carrots!" And almost burned his coat in the process.

"But at what cost? At what cost?" Colline muses sadly to himself.

"What in God's name are you muttering about?" Schaunard says, making me crack up.

"What's so funny, Lucy?" Mimì asks.

"Um, we'll tell you later!" Colline says quickly to Schaunard, clearly with no intention of doing so.

"Tell us now!" says Marcello, buttering a roll.

"Never!" Colline exclaims.

Two seconds later I get a text from Schaunard.

 _Schaunard: Lucy, tell me what happened._

 _Me: I'll text you the details when Colline least expects it ;)_

 _Schaunard: ok sounds good_

Schaunard is visibly happier now that he knows he will find out about this big secret. He grins and piles heaps of mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Whoa, Schaunard, save some for us!" Marcello exclaims.

Schaunard passes the potatoes to Colline, who actually leaves room on his plate for other things. I get up to get the sparkling cider.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" I cheer, pouring seven glasses. Mimì, Musetta, and I take glasses first, and then the guys are on the rest like a pack of dogs.

"Does everyone have enough of everything?" Colline asks.

Five of us nod; Schaunard raises his hand. "More potatoes, pwease?" he says in a baby voice, making praying hands. Colline gets up, walks over to Schaunard, and smacks him on the back of the head.

"I feel you, Schaunard. Potatoes are my favorite, too," I say.


	4. Chapter 3–Truth or Dare part 1

After dinner, we all sit in front of the fire for a while. For the first ten minutes, we just sit there gossiping about people from other operas, but then Musetta gets an idea.

"Hey, how about if we play Truth or Dare?" she suggests.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" I say. We all form a circle in front of the fire.

"I'll go first," says Musetta. "Mimì, truth or dare?"

"Dare," says Mimì.

"I dare you to say the words "in bed" after everything you say for the rest of the game."

"Okay in bed," says Mimì. We all laugh. Mimì asks, "Schaunard, truth or dare in bed?"

"Dare," says Schaunard, trying not to laugh at how wrong this sounds.

Mimì thinks for a moment, then finally says, "I dare you to get the girl in this room that you think is the prettiest to sit on your lap for the rest of the game in bed."

"Lucy, come here," says Schaunard, winking and patting his lap.

 _Me?_ Really? I mean, we're nothing more than super close friends, but that's so sweet!

"D'aww, Schaunard, how sweet!" I squeal, doing a really bad imitation of an annoying, attention-seeking middle school girl. I plop onto his lap, and he ruffles my hair. Another reason why I'm thankful to have him as a friend: he always makes me feel special.

Schaunard says, "Rodolfo, truth or dare?"

"Truth," says Rodolfo.

"What's the worst, most embarrassing thing you've ever written?"

This should be good.

"Oh, that. I, um...ugh. Oh boy," Rodolfo stammers. Mimì laughs.

"BCome on, tell us!" Marcello urges.

"A little while ago," says Rodolfo, "I wrote some really bad, cheesy poems about me saving Mimì from various situations. For example, in one she was being pursued by Don Giovanni. Oh, the anger just _pulsed_ through my body as I imagined that scoundrel preying on my beautiful, sweet princess! She wouldn't give in to him, but she was really scared, and then I came in wearing a cape and rescued her with my singing! And then after that we kissed and lived happily ever after. Anyway, I had those hidden in my drawer, but Mimì found them one evening and read them, didn't you, my sweet girl?" He pulls Mimì close to him and kisses her hair. "But we had a good laugh over it," he adds. "Anyway," he says, "Marcello, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to...call up Alcindoro and profess your undying love for him." Rodolfo collapses in laughter.

Alcindoro is a wealthy, older man and a suitor of Musetta's. Musetta and Marcello have somewhat of an on-again, off-again relationship. They love each other deeply, but Musetta's very flirtatious, and she's caught Alcindoro's eye more than once. Whenever she and Marcello have an argument, Alcindoro's the first person Musetta goes to. All this makes Marcello very jealous, especially since Alcindoro's a wealthy man while Marcello barely makes ends meet with his painting. But all that aside, at the end of the day Marcello and Musetta are very much in love. So Marcello probably doesn't want to tell Alcindoro he loves him.

"What? No way! Not gonna happen!" Marcello exclaims. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Come on, just do it!" Rodolfo pleads.

" _Fine._ On Musetta's phone or on mine?"

"Yours. And put him on speaker so we can all hear."

Marcello calls Alcindoro, who answers on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Alcindoro, honey, it's Marcello. Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I've loved you for years. Years and years and _years_. I thought Christmas was the perfect time to tell you. I've tried so many times to get over you, but I just can't. Oh, how I've dreamed of holding your cold little hands in mine and warming them in my own, hearing your laugh in the morning, and taking you out on double dates with my friend Colline and his coat. I have the utmost _undying_ love and adoration for you, and I just wanted you to know that, _honey."_

There was a long pause on the other end. Finally, Alcindoro says, "Um...what?"

"You heard me," says Marcello.

"Um...okay. I would have expected to hear this from Musetta rather than you, but...um...okay. Bye."

Marcello immediately hits the "End Call" button and buries his very red face in his hands. The rest of us, including Musetta, are laughing our heads off.

"That piece of scum! I'm going to kill him! Like he needed to remind me that he has a thing for Musetta!" Marcello exclaims.

"The part about Colline and his coat! It's so...true!" Schaunard laughs.

Colline doesn't say anything to deny it.


	5. Chapter 4–Truth or Dare part 2

Our game of Truth or Dare peters out for a while as we talk about other things, but then Marcello, wanting his turn to make one of us suffer the embarrassment that he did when he called Alcindoro, gets our game back on track.

"Okay, my turn to embarrass someone," he says. "Lucy, truth or dare?"

"Um, truth!" I say after thinking for a second.

"Would you rather date Colline or Schaunard?"

"Schaunard, since Colline's taken by an inanimate object." I joke.

"Fair point," says Marcello. Mimì giggles.

"Colline, truth or dare?" I ask my best friend.

"Dare," he says.

"I dare you to let someone else wear your coat for five minutes."

Colline looks panicked. "Um, okay, you wear it!" He gingerly takes it off and hands it to me. I put it on. Hmmm, it's _comfortable_.

"I've never been this close to Colline's other half in my life!" Schaunard says excitedly, gesturing to me on his lap wearing the coat.

Colline glares at Schaunard. "If you _dare_ do _anything_ to my coat," he threatens, "I swear..."

Just then, there is a knock at the door. Colline gets up to answer it. A few seconds later, he comes back into the living room, our landlord Benoit trailing behind him.

"Hey, guys," says Benoit. "I'm just here to tell you that your rent was due last week, all of you. Please pay it by New Year's Eve. I'll be around."

"Undoubtedly," says Marcello under his breath.

"Benoit," says Mimì, "we're playing Truth or Dare. Won't you join us? In bed," she adds on at the end, blushing. Rodolfo hugs her.

Benoit pretends not to hear her last sentence. "Um, okay," he says. "Got nothing better to do."

"My turn to ask," says Colline. "Benoit, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Just how many times have you cheated on your wife?"

"I've already told you about all those times!"

Colline shakes his head. "He can't even count them," he says to no one in particular.

"Is it my turn to ask?" says Benoit.

We all nod.

"Musetta, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Musetta says slowly, understandably not wanting Benoit to know about her private life.

"How many times have _you_ cheated on Marcello?"

We all freeze. Marcello and Musetta glare at Benoit.

"For your information," says Musetta angrily, "I have never _cheated_ on Marcello. I just go out and do my thing, enjoy people enjoying my beauty, and maybe catch the eyes of a couple playful fellows, but I would _never_ cheat on him! I love him! And you should be ashamed of yourself, asking a lady a question like that!" She goes over to Benoit, and it takes me a second to realize what she is about to do.

"Musetta, NO!" I shout.

But I am too late. Musetta slaps our landlord!

The guys burst out laughing. Mimì and I exchange a look. This can't be good.

Marcello pulls Musetta into his arms and congratulates her for her daring move. I do have to admit, it was pretty funny to see Benoit standing there all shocked and confused as he got a calling out (and well-deserved slap) from Musetta, one that we should have given him long ago. I start laughing, and eventually, Mimì does, too. Benoit, on the other hand, is not amused, but luckily makes no attempt to retaliate.

Colline manages to pull himself together. To smooth things over, he offers Benoit some wine, which Benoit accepts. Schaunard starts snickering under his breath.

"Something funny?" I ask. I'm still sitting on his lap.

"Oh, yeah. You'll see soon. Very soon."

Colline brings Benoit back into the living room and we continue to play Truth or Dare. In the next two hours, Musetta gets her hair dyed four different colors, Rodolfo raps on the spot for 30 seconds about pancakes, Schaunard crashes our neighbors' Christmas party dressed as a pregnant woman and pretends to go into labor, Mimì explains to Schaunard yet again that she doesn't know why everyone calls her Mimì (we all laugh when she says that her real name is Lucia in bed), Marcello finally admits he's a brony, I do really crappy improv ballet to the song _Wrecking Ball,_ and Colline tells the whole story of how he almost set his coat on fire, which everyone, especially Schaunard, finds hilarious.

While all this is going on, Benoit becomes increasingly drunk as Colline offers him four more glasses of wine. I finally get it: we're getting him drunk so we don't have to pay the rent!

"You never did tell us, Benoit," says Colline, when Benoit is done with his fifth drink, "how many times you cheated on your wife. Want to tell us that story again?"

A very drunk Benoit boasts to us of his infidelities. When he's finally finished, Marcello and Colline grab his arms and throw him out of the house in mock disgust.

"Oh my, God, how often do you guys do this?" I ask, laughing.

"It's happened more than once," says Colline.

"I can't believe he fell for it again!" Rodolfo chuckles.

Schaunard regards the dying fire and motions for me to get off his lap. I do, and then he gets up, tries to revive the fire, and fails. He shrugs and sits down. Not two seconds later, though, he springs back up, clearly getting an idea.

"Now that we've digested and Benoit is gone," says Schaunard, "who's ready for sledding?"


	6. Chapter 5–The Best Gifts of All

"Full speed ahead!" Schaunard cries as he races headfirst down the huge hill in Colline's backyard. He reaches the bottom and faceplants into the powdery white snow. He emerges out of the powder laughing, his face red from the stinging snow.

"Mimì, love, why don't we take a turn together?" Rodolfo suggests. So far, we've all been going down one at a time.

"Sure!" Mimì says. She climbs into the front of the toboggan. Rodolfo gets in behind her and wraps his arms around her waist.

"Ready, here you go!" Marcello exclaims, pushing them down the hill. I hear them whooping and laughing all the way to the bottom.

Colline grins and claps a huge hand on my shoulder. "What do you say we go down together?" he suggests. "I kind of don't like sledding alone in the dark."

"Sounds like a plan," I say, grabbing a tube.

Colline gets on the tube, and I climb onto his lap and take hold of the tube's handles.

"Hey, how come _you_ get to hold on?" Colline protests.

" _Fine_ ," I say, taking my hands off the handles. He grabs them, and I take hold of his forearms instead.

"Okay," he says, getting ready to start us off. "Three, two—"

"ONE!" screams Schaunard, pushing us at full force down the hill.

I shriek and giggle hysterically as we rush down the hill. Colline shouts all sorts of profanities at Schaunard the whole way down. We finally reach the bottom of the hill, where we fall off the tube and into the snow. The snow on my face melts and stings, but I feel alive and exuberant.

We spend about an hour sledding before going in to give out and open gifts. I can't wait to give Schaunard his big surprise!

"Mimì, my sweet, this one's for you!" Rodolfo says excitedly, presenting his girlfriend with a small but beautiful gold package.

"Awww, Rodolfo!" Mimì cries. She opens the package. Inside is a gorgeous ring with stones in the shape of a rose!"

"Thank you so much, Rodolfo! It's perfect!" Mimì exclaims. "It's just like the flowers I sew!" Mimì and Rodolfo share a sweet kiss under the Christmas tree.

"D'aww!" Schaunard imitates a fangirl.

"Don't make fun of me and my kind!" I say to Schaunard, tackling him to the floor.

We wrestle for a moment, then get up to watch Musetta open a big package from Marcello, one with extravagant bows. He gave her a beautiful red dress, with huge frills and rows of ribbon and paste gems. It looks similar to the one she has now, but it's more beautiful and over-the-top than even her old dress.

"I love it, Marcello!" Musetta cries as she throws her arms around Marcello, making them both topple over. They kiss deeply.

"Ew, you guys, could you possibly not do that under the tree?" Rodolfo complains, making fake gagging noises.

"You're one to talk," says Marcello as he and Musetta break apart and get up.

"Uh, here," Colline says to me a little shyly, handing me a package. "Schaunard had to lend me some of the money for it, and then Mimì had to sew it, but it was my idea. Hope you like it."

"Awww, thanks!" I open the package and take out its contents. The garment inside is a feminine-looking version of Colline's coat! It has a fluffy hood (fake fur, so no animals were harmed), a slim, figure-flattering cut, and of course, large pockets just like Colline's own coat has. It's perfect!

"I love it! Now I can be your little minion or something! Thanks so much!" I glomp my best friend, and he hugs back.

"Such a cute idea!" exclaims Musetta. "Try it on!"

I try it on, and it is the perfect fit.

"Aww, you look adorable!" says Mimì.

We are interrupted by another knock at the door. We all groan.

"Ugh, what _now_?" Colline complains, going to answer the door.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Parpignol, the toy vendor, calls cheerfully as Colline lets him in.

"Merry Christmas!" we all chorus back.

"Would anyone like to buy any toys?"

We all look among each other for a moment, then shrug and shake our heads.

"No, thank you," Colline says to Parpignol. "We don't want to max out Schaunard's credit card."

"Again!" calls Schaunard jokingly.

"All right, then. How many are you? Seven? Well, here's a candy cane for each of you!" Parpignol hands Colline seven candy canes.

"Thank you!" we all chorus.

After Parpignol leaves, we open more gifts. Everyone gives a gift to everyone else. To name a few, I give Colline my extra French dictionary, with the promise of helping him study the language, Marcello gives Rodolfo a new pen to write his poems with, and Rodolfo in turn gives Marcello a new paint set.

Finally, it's time for the most important gift of all. It's time to thank Schaunard, who's been an especially amazing friend to all of us. He's lent us food, money, and a tremendous amount of support whenever any of us are going through a difficult time. When Mimì was sick with tuberculosis (true story), Schaunard brought her and Rodolfo food every day, lent them money for medicine, went out to get that medicine so Rodolfo never had to leave Mimì's side, and even went as far as sneaking into Colline's house to sell his coat for money to buy medicine (Colline caught him and had _not_ been happy, but admitted that he would have sold it himself if there had been a need to). And when I was having trouble with some girls at school, I would talk to Schaunard every day, and he would always make me feel a million times better. One time when it got particularly bad, Schaunard went to class with me and made those girls cry! Then he cracked jokes about it all afternoon. I love that guy. It may not seem like it because of his teasing personality, but Schaunard is definitely the glue that holds all of us together.

"Being the most poetic writer, I guess I'll do this," says Rodolfo.

"Full of yourself much?" I tease. Rodolfo sticks his tongue out at me.

"Anyway," he continues, "we would all like to thank Schaunard for all he's done for us, both money-wise and friend-wise. Thank you, Schaunard, for helping Mimì and myself through her illness, for helping Lucy at school, for lending us all so much money, and mostly for just being the greatest friend anyone could ever have. So here," says Rodolfo, handing Schaunard a six hundred dollar gift card to his favorite music store. We all contributed a hundred dollars each.

"Aw, thanks, you guys," says Schaunard. "I really don't know what to say."

Schaunard isn't one to cry, but I can tell he really appreciates it. Mimì, on the other hand, is getting a little emotional. She reaches out and hugs Schaunard, and then the rest of us group glomp him.

After much hugging, some kissing among the couples, dessert, and finally, a rousing wrapping-paper fight, it's time to, well, wrap up the party. Rodolfo and Marcello take their girlfriends home, Colline and I make plans to hang out tomorrow, and Schaunard invites us all over to his apartment for New Year's. We all give a resounding YES.

I'm so excited. This will be the best holiday season ever, and there's no way I'd rather spend Christmas than with my favorite Bohemian friends. They truly are the best gifts of all.


End file.
